


4am chats

by pandabrite



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: F/M, One Shot, Stolen Century, and barry quit eavesdropping hella rude, blupjeans, in which lup can't keep secrets from taako come on now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-07
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2019-01-30 18:44:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12659232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pandabrite/pseuds/pandabrite
Summary: taako bags on lup for having a big mushy gushy crush on barry. barry happens to overhear.





	4am chats

**Author's Note:**

> day 6 of nanowrimo? hi, yes, i'm alive maybe still. this was supposed to be up yesterday but Things happened so i guess better late than never. today's prompt was [ overhearing a conversation. ] the list of prompts is from tumblr user lucretia-the-director.

Barry didn’t know why he couldn’t sleep… he was _exhausted._ This whole cycle was dragging the energy out of all of them, but even so he just couldn’t keep his damn eyes closed… He’d tossed and turned and put his body in just about every position known to man, and maybe some not, but it just wasn’t happenin’, and he was going to chalk it up to a lost cause at this point…

So he was up. 

It was late, late enough that even the non-human members of their group were likely meditating… maybe close to 4am? He hadn’t bothered to check the time because what did it really matter? He was awake and maybe he’d sleep later… but if he couldn’t rest now, at least maybe he could do some research and, hell, maybe tonight would be the night he’d make them some headway in this damn mission..? Making himself useful seemed like the better option all the way around. 

He made a pitstop in the kitchen for a snack and then headed toward the back of the ship so that he could go down to the lab and fuckin’ lose himself in some good good science and not feel like _literal_ death anymore. 

Barry headed down the hall that housed their sleeping quarters, but… voices brought him to a halt-- one specific voice, in particular, drew his attention… and embarrassingly enough, it was one that probably would have rooted him no matter the time, day, or place…

_Lup._

He could see it now-- there was faint candlelight peeking from beneath her door, and she was having what sounded like a hushed but very heated argument with someone, who he realized now was Taako.

See, and now he was in a Situation. Did he stop and eavesdrop, which was extremely rude and invasive, or did he duck his head and move on, which was the morally much more acceptable way to handle this..? Of course. Yeah. 

He shook his head, mostly at himself for even considering invading her privacy, and moved to head on past her door when he suddenly heard Taako proclaim, in a sing-song voice--

“ _LuuuuuLuuuuuuu and Baaaaaarold, sitting in a tree~_ ”

And Barry felt like he got struck by fucking lightning. He physically reacted to that, fumbling back a bit-- he caught himself so as to not drop the plate of food and drink he was holding-- but-- what-- what the fuck were they talking about?

See, now moral receptors were just fuckin’ overriden, now he literally couldn’t go anywhere if he wanted to… though he felt terrified? Embarrassed? What were they talking about? Fuck, God, he didn’t know if he’d be able to handle it if they just ended up being in the middle of just… dunking on him, which he could kind of see being the case… but… but they were talking about _him._

“Put it _right_ up your butt, Taako,” Lup retorted, and Barry could tell she was _trying_ to sound unaffected, but she was… annoyed, maybe?

Taako barked a laugh, “you’re _so mad_ , I- you think I can’t read you?”

“Can you read that you’re about to _catch these hands_ , Taako, I swear--”

“ _Yooooooou_ follow him around like a puppy dog~ It’s, honestly, it’s so obvious. You’re not fooling anyone~”

Barry scooted closer to the door… his hands were sweaty and his brow furrowed… He… what..? Did Lup _really_..? He… fuck, had he really not noticed something? Was he missing something?

They had been spending a lot of time together, sure… but he was fairly certain it was only from an academic interest… she was helping him with his work, with his research… they spent some time in the lab, but… they didn’t really talk much? He-- they-- they just _worked_. And, sure, to Barry it was pretty fucking special. Lup was gifted and warm and enthusiastic and exuberant and beautiful… and he was _grateful_ to have her company when she offered it, but… for it to be anything else, he-- fuck, he couldn’t ever have dreamt that..? 

Were they just fucking around..? Surely that… For sure Taako was just dunking on Lup. They bickered about silly things all the time, but… if it was a joke, even if maybe no one else was meant to hear it, Taako was kind of doing it in poor taste… a goof on someone else’s expense..? On Barry’s..?

“Taako, stop trying to Scooby-Doo this, okay? You don’t know anything about it.” 

“I got the nail on the head, actually~ You don’t have to keep secrets from me, Lup. Well, honestly you just, like, can’t. _Ever._ ”

“I **so** actually can.”

“Wrooooong again~” Taako practically crooned.

“Oh yeah? Well-- okay, okay, I got one for you. I… Taako, you remember that super-duper fucking nice silk robe you stole from that travelling merchant after you transmuted his tent into bees? That robe you _loved?_ ”

“Sure do. The one you accidentally caught on fire, put out with all the water from our waterskins and then buried under that ridiculously massive rock and said a ghoul stole it?”

“... oh, _fuck._ ”

“Mhm, _see_ , not a secret. Not even a little. Just like this big _shmoopy woopy_ crush you have on Barold.”

And there was silence for a long moment…

Barry felt sweat on his brow, like… fuck, he was… this didn’t really sound like they were just fucking around, actually..? Like, maybe they were… maybe this was serious? It wasn’t a joke..? But… like, it kind of _had_ to be? Because it didn’t make sense otherwise, right? 

Lup finally spoke, “... Shut up, _Taako_ …” 

And she sounded _defeated._

There was the sound of movement from inside the room, and the creak of mattress springs as someone sat down on Lup’s bed… and then there was just quiet.

Barry’s heart was pounding in overdrive. He was surprised, but also extremely grateful, that those big elf ears couldn’t hear him. He knew, he _knew_ he should walk away, but his better judgement was still checked out… he was listening to what was supposed to be a private conversation between a brother and sister and just kind of being a jerk, he guessed, but…

… but…

“... Okay…” Lup spoke again, much more quietly… Barry had to _strain_ to hear, “you win, Taako. I… yeah, _maybe_ , okay? It’s not a big deal… It’s just… It’s just a little thing, alright..? _Don’t_ make fun of me. I will actually straight up rain murder on your face.”

Taako was about to speak when they were both startled by the sound of glass breaking outside Lup’s door. They were both perched on her bed, Taako with one arm slung over Lup’s shoulder… they both simultaneously jerked their faces toward sound, ears perked straight up on their heads.

Barry, who was blushing furiously now, had dropped the glass of water he was holding. He’d just fucking lost all functionality of his Goddamn limbs, he guessed. 

He… oh shit, he had to go, fuck. He _had to go!_

And Barry hadn’t run so fast in a long time. Barry fucking _booked it_. He was goddamn terrified. He could _not be caught_ like that. No. No way. No. _No no no._

He rounded the corner past their sleeping quarters, and fuckin’ threw himself through a doorway and down the stairs to the Starblaster research lab… He collapsed against the door after slamming it shut. Barry wheezed, clutching his chest-- not just because he was winded physically but emotionally as well.

_Did he really hear that?_

Lup, did she..? Did she really? There… was there something fucking there? Was she..? Did she see him in even the slightest inkling of the same light that he saw _her_? He’d heard it, plain as day, but it just… it didn’t feel like it could be right. For someone as fuckin’ perfect as Lup fucking Taaco to see anything in him, just Barry. 

But he’d heard it. Fuck, he’d _heard_ it… He could deny the probability all he wanted… but it… it had come right out of her mouth… and she wouldn’t lie to Taako. There was no way in hell. 

He… Honestly, he didn’t know what to do with the knowledge. He didn’t have the confidence to act on it, did he? And even if he did, that would be so fucking rude it was ridiculous. He only knew because he’d been _snooping_ , which was a super shitty thing to do, so maybe he’d be better off just acting like he… never heard anything at all?

Yeah… yeah, that was a good, safe course of action. 

_Yeah._

Back in the hallway of their sleeping quarters, Lup and Taako had both barged out of her room and come across the mess of glass and water all over the floor. They looked at each other, and then back down at the glass… but whoever had dropped it was _gone._

Lup’s face was furiously red, not just from the frustration at having been eavesdropped upon, _apparently_ , but from the fact that _someone knew_. It wasn’t that she was ashamed, not that… but more like… she wasn’t done working through her own feelings. She didn’t completely know how she felt. It, fuck, she wanted it to come out, if it ever did, on _her own terms._

“Fuck, Taako, what _now_..?” She mumbled, kneeling to pick at the mess of glass.

“Guess, uh… guess we’ll find out, huh?”

… but they never did. 

Nothing ever came of it. No one said anything about it, except a vague mention from Magnus that he’d heard something break during the night… Everything the next day was much the same as it had always been. 

Even Barry seemed vastly unaffected, at least outwardly. He was a pretty adept actor when he needed to be, and when he greeted Lup in the morning at the small table in their dining quarters, it was in the same vaguely tired, but friendly manner he always did.

… Things from then went on much as normal. Well, as normal as their lives ever were.

It would come out, eventually, for sure… but for the time being, Barry sat on the knowledge like a small piece of treasure. He paid more attention to Lup when they spent time together, and… maybe, even, he started to believe it to be true as time ticked on. They would catch each other sneaking looks at one another over charts… they talked more during their research sessions… they went out on more expeditions together… and it was slow, a quiet and building understanding of each other…

And for the both of them? It was better that way.


End file.
